A judge handed down a fine Tuesday to a man who admitted to using a cellphone while driving, causing a fatal crash that killed a 5-year-old boy in Baltimore County.

Five-year-old Jake Owen enjoying himself at Ocean City, doing school work at Federal Hill Prep, preparing for his next move in little league and rounding the bases are all memories for his family. His mother said Jake was playing his new Mario Brothers game when tragedy struck.

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"The last thing he said to us was, 'Mom, I have 43 lives,'" mother Susan Yum said.

Yum and James Owen are still trying to cope with the death of their son as 24-year-old Devin McKeiver took responsibility for causing a four-car crash in December 2011 that claimed Jake's life.

"He just broke down in tears. They were not tears of joy; they were tears of sadness for the Owens family. He understands he was negligent and wrong," said McKeiver's defense attorney, David Irwin.

McKeiver could have received up to three years in prison if convicted of criminally negligent manslaughter. But instead a judge found him guilty of negligent driving and failure to control speed.

"I think we need better laws to address reprehensible conduct like this. To take the life of a 5-year-old boy, to walk away with a negligent driving conviction is something that needs to be addressed," Assistant State's Attorney John Cox said.

"It's obvious when you are in a car talking on your phone, a crash caused by that isn't really an accident. It's something you're deliberately doing that makes it less safe for you to drive," Yum said.

Records show McKeiver, a correctional officer at the Baltimore County Detention Center, had been texting 12 minutes before the wreck. He admitted he was talking on his cellphone when his Jeep approached traffic stopped on the northbound Interstate 83 ramp at Interstate 695. Investigators said McKeiver's Jeep plowed into the back of the Owens' vehicle at 62 mph.

University of Baltimore law professor Gregory Dolin said more of these types of distracted driving cases will be going to court.

"You just have to look at their cellphone and see when the call was made or the text was sent, so it's easier to show two or three seconds before the accident that somebody was doing something they weren't supposed to be doing," Dolin said.

James Owen said his son's death was preventable.

"When you're in a car, put your cellphone away. There is no message, no phone call you can receive or sent that should put anyone else's safety in danger," he said.